Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes - where we're currently at (Part 4)

Still no big Uncut or Mojo write-ups yet. When are the next issues expected (in the UK)?

 

Yes, this is what I was thinking after looking at Recording Sessions, but the "nine reels" remark comes much later

Thanks for that. Very interesting, though it doesn't fully undercut the "nine reels" remark.

The fact that those songs are all together would indicate to me that that reel was missing at some point (or at least not bootlegged)

The early band tunes are (were?) controlled by Dwarf music and would've been included in that list.

I looked up the appropriate page of the Copyright files via Google Books awhile back (looking for "Racehorse" info) and found that a bunch of those early songs (OJ Blues, Reuben...) are in that list.

 

I want to request "Hallelujah, I´ve just been moved" as a sneak preview! Am I the only one (listen to the sample on pono) who thinks this one is a killer? 0.o

 

I was thinking the same thing. Columbia and/or Dylan's people must have had a dub of that reel to copyright it (let alone issue "Minstrel Boy" on ASP) but they didn't seem to have access to the original reel itself . But does "missing" mean "in Garth's and/or Haust's possession and they aren't sharing" or that it's genuinely unknown where it resides? Not clear on that.

I'd really love to see a breakdown on what's on each of the known reels. Hopefully the packaging will include all the extant tape boxes and we can piece this together. I assume the From The Reels collection gives us some insight on this, but I don't get the sense that each disc there represents an individual reel.

One of the songs you mention is sequenced very near "Baby Lou" on A Musical History, so what you say makes sense. I think there is a lot of confusion about the exact recording dates of many Band outtakes, but I'm inclined to go with your perspective here.

 

Wait! Wait! Look again! Look again!

 

Sid's commentary on "900 Miles":

Down in the basement, with no access to songbooks or records and certainly way before the internet, if you wanted to sing a traditional song, the melody and lyrics depended on your memory. And that’s the way folk songs were played and sung for centuries before the advent of recording in the 1920s, oft-times mutating into entirely new songs in the process. This steady rolling version of "900 Miles" has never been circulated before and is a charming example of how a faulty memory can create something new.

Not entirely clear why Bob and the boys wouldn't have access to songbooks or records in the various basements they recorded in, but I like this observation a lot all the same.

 

I was also wondering if it's possible they would record 3/4 of a reel and switch to fresh one?
Then maybe go to the 3/4 reel for a quick idea, thereby making it impossible to know the
true recording sequence?

A few more pics of reel handwriting would help....and some audio forensics.

I just want to get the "new" tracks in a mostly chronological order,
so I can hit the ground running with a custom CD when the set comes out.

Was "Edge of The Ocean" the 1st thing recorded out of the set?
Or "Jelly Bean"?

 

Checking online, it looks like Mojo's new issue is coming out Oct 28th, and a cover blurb promises "BOB DYLAN THE LOST TAPES," which is presumably about the Basements, though I suppose it's not impossible it's an awkward (and totally inaccurate) way of referring to the "Lost on the River" project. Either way, they don't bother to mention the piece in their text description of the issue, so it might be a brief article.

Uncut doesn't seem to have a preview that I could find for their next issue, but the last one came out on September 23rd, so you have to assume the new one is due any day now (it shall be released).

 

Disc 6 really complicates stuff doesn't it?

 

I'm not sure about this at all, but that radio special might be using excerpts from these
series of short podcasts: https://soundcloud.com/truetonegroup

^Sid, Heylin, Garth (maybe Greil) are featured in those podcasts, as well as clips from the set.
Haven't had time to really listen to them yet, just samples.

 

Maybe no songbooks (not even Sing Out!?), but PLENTY of records, I would have to think.

And I'm hearing a little 500 Miles in the Basement version of 900 Miles, too.

(I love Bobby Bare -- besides inspiring the Basement version of All American Boy, he also had a great version of Four Strong Winds.)

 

Yes, I'm hoping they'll have lots of this sort of minutia.

I really don't think the people who put "From The Reels" together actually had any more to go on than Heylin and Marcus' guesswork - I don't think they had access to the actual reels

If anyone cares, the relevant entries in the Copyright Files can be found here - see pages 5 & 6 under "Absolutely Sweet Marie and 89 other titles (#1)" and "Absolutely...(#2)"

 

Well, this kind of makes sense. Just because Bob was "rich" doesn't mean he'd have all these things on hand.
From what I've read, Bob lived pretty lean - borrowing and stealing records and books.

He soaked up all that folk music in person. Pretty sure he talked about this specifically somewhere.

Same thing with "you're just wasting tape, Garth." Of course he could afford blank reels,
but I'm not sure if the the local drugstore in Saugerties carried blank tape, and the drive
to NYC for supplies was a drag I'm sure. "Hey Garth, here's $50 - go get some Ampex reels"

I like the idea that many half-finished Basement "originals" may have been mis-remembered
folk songs, lost in translation (on the river).

 

They should quote this sentence on the cover of the album. You've summed it all up so perfectly. My hat's off to you.

 

Regarding the discrepancy between 138 songs on the release and the previously stated estimate of 150. If you look at the reel box (the one where they taped over Charlie Rich) there are tracks called "2. A Lot of Piano" and "5. Part of Song" and so forth. It's possible these were not considered worthy or interesting enough for release - or maybe they're just members of The Band, so they decided it wasn't relevant - but were included in the total track estimate. Or shoot, maybe 138 is close enough to be 'about 150'.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are more songs and reels out there though. Maybe there'll be a Complete Basement Tapes supplement at some point. I'm just glad they're doing this now.

 

Podcast 2 has more of "Wild wolf" at the beginning!!!!!

 

Thanks for the tip. It reminds me of Senor or maybe Dirge. Can't wait to hear it all.

 

Speaking of the reel handwriting, it's been bugging me for awhile that the track sequence is:

Disc: 1
...
14. Spanish is the Loving Tongue
15. Under Control
16. Ol' Roison the Beau
17. I'm Guilty of Loving You
18. Cool Water
19. The Auld Triangle
20. Po' Lazarus
21. I'm a Fool for You (Take 1)
22. I'm a Fool for You (Take 2)
Disc: 2
1. Johnny Todd
2. Tupelo

whereas the tape box says

1 Spanish is the Loving Tongue
2 (a lot of piano ____
3 On a Rainy Afternoon
4 I Can't Come In With a Broken Heart
5 Part of song
6 " " "
7 Under Control
-Space
8 Rosin the Bow
9 I'm Guilty of Loving You (Part)
10 Johnny Todd
11 Water
12 That Ole Triangle (Royal Canal)
13 Lazarus

Even if we assume that "a lot of piano" refers to "Spanish Is.." (throwing the numbers off), and "Rainy.." through "Part of..." migrate to disc 6, why does "Johnny Todd" migrate downward? Just so it makes a nice kick-off to disc 2?

 

If only!

 

Wow. The thread got really exciting then!
I've just listened to the preview songs and the podcasts. Everything I'm hearing is sounding amazing. The sound quality, the performances, the different takes, the cover versions. Whooo!

Sorry for the Whooo...

 

Yes, I made the same transcription, and noticed the resequenced tracks. I think Johnny Todd was isolated from the rest because it sounds so good, that they even put it on the 2-disc set.

As far as the bits and pieces or fragments of tracks, those are just the by-products of the stop-and-start nature of recording sessions, and would be interesting to hear, but probably don't resemble any type of finished musical product, just tunings and stumblings.

 

I heard this version on the radio a couple of months ago, I knew i'd heard it before, possibly on the Basment Tapes but when I went to check, it sounded nothing like the Bobby Bare version.
I then realized I was thinking of this version by Rosanne Cash:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_XgghFZt1o&list=RDQ_XgghFZt1o

Then lo & behold, Sony release a preview of the 9oo Miles / Confidential take and all of a sudden it clicks right back in with the BB. version. Strange that it should be tacked on at the very end of the 6th. disc as if they had just found it.

 

There you go.

 

Always liked this song.

 

I love almost everything Bob did in this period, but Captain Beefheart did a downright spooky version of Tupelo that really blows away Bob's.